USC basketball: Trojans beat Stanford, 54-49

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Nikola Vucevic tipped in an offensive rebound with 20.6 seconds left to give USC the lead, and the Trojans went on to defeat Stanford, 54-49, Saturday at the Galen Center.

Vucevic’s tip-in came after the Trojans had three chances underneath, two by Marcus Johnson and another by Leonard Washington. Stanford’s Jeremy Green missed a jumper with 10 seconds left, and the Cardinal was forced to foul. Johnson made two free throws and Dwight Lewis made two more to seal the win.

With the victory, USC (14-9 overall, 6-5 in Pacific 10 Conference play) has back-to-back wins over two teams that defeated the Trojans earlier this year.

Stanford (10-13, 4-7) suffered its fourth straight loss. The Cardinal was led by Landry Fields, who scored 27 points and had 11 rebounds.
Vucevic led USC with 18 points and 14 rebounds, his ninth double-double this season.

It was close when the teams met in Palo Alto a month ago, Stanford winning, 54-53, when Vucevic missed a potential game-winning tip-in at the buzzer. That loss snapped USC’s eight-game winning streak

USC now has a week off before hosting UCLA. The Trojans have yet to beat the Bruins at the Galen Center in three tries since it opened in the 2006-07 season.

-- Baxter Holmes